“I don’t think we’ll be doing anything on the M&A side
other than the small strategic land positions that we need to
drill out,” Greg Robinson, chief executive officer of
Melbourne-based Newcrest said today on an analyst call. “We do
see some very good exploration upside in our land tenements in
Cote d’Ivoire.”

Kinross, with operations in Ghana and Mauritania, became a
takeover target after saying it will write down the value of its
Tasiast mine and a record share slump. The Toronto-based miner’s
market value plunged 21 percent to C$12.3 billion ($12.2
billion), and it may attract interest from Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM)
or Polyus Gold International Ltd. (PLZL), said Stifel Nicolaus & Co.

Newcrest’s Bonikro mine “is a fairly safe way of keeping a
window on that part of the world without taking on the risk of
buying another company,” Peter Arden, a Melbourne-based senior
research analyst at Ord Minnett Ltd. said by phone.

Newcrest, Australia’s largest producer, acquired the
Bonikro mine and surrounding exploration ground with the A$11.4
billion ($12 billion) takeover of Lihir Gold Ltd. in 2010. The
company, whose other producing gold mines are located in the
Asia-Pacific region, has sought to boost output at Bonikro and
is exploring for other ore bodies in the area.

Newcrest rose 2 percent to A$32.84 at the close in Sydney
trading, paring losses in the past year to 13 percent. Gold for
immediate delivery has climbed 26 percent over the same period.

After a price slump, Kinross (KGC) traded on Jan. 19 at a 24
percent discount to its assets minus liabilities, the lowest of
any gold mining company with at least $1 billion in value.